Coin-controlled indicating striking-machine



(No Model.) C. J. MEANS.

COIN GONTROLLED INDICATING STRIKING MACHINE. 19. 447,890. L

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" UNITED STATES vPATENT ErmE.v

`CHARLES J. MEANS, oF BoSToN, MASSACHUSETTS.

COlN-CONTROLLED INDICATING STRlKilNG-IVIACHINE..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,890, dated March 10, 1891.

Application filed November 8, 1890. Serial No, 370,779. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. MEANS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and `State of Massachusetts, have invented new and use` ful Improvements in Coin-Controlled In dicating Striking-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines which by means of the deposit of a coin indicate and register the force of blows struck with the hand; and it consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts fully described below, and point-ed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a perspective view of a machine embodying my invention; and Fig. Cis a sec'- tion on line x, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The case or box which usually incloses the machine is not illustrated, it being no part of the invention.

A represents a base, to which is bolted the upright A', usually of wood, and a is the frame, preferably of met-al, bolted to the base A and upright A. An arbor or shaft b is supported in the upper portion of this frame and has xed on it an elbow-lever, to whose upper arm B is rigidly secured the pad C for receiving the blow, while its lower arm B has pivotally secured to its outer end a piston-rod D, to whose lower end is fixed a piston D', (see broken lines, Fig. 2,) which plays in a cylinder cZ,open at its upper end and with its lower end provided with an inwardly-opening valve d. The arm B of the bell-crank is held normally down, and hence the pad is held forward in the position shown in Fig. 1 and by broken lines at the right in Fig. 2 by means of a strong spring c, whose ends are secured (directly or indirectly) to said arm and to the base or ioor A.

The pad C is a cushion stuffed, preferably, with hair, and has its Striking-face made concave or hollowed out with a raised rim or edge C', which is also stuffed, in order that a careless or poorly-directed blow may be diverted inward or toward the center of the pad and not resultV in any injury to the striker.

The shaft b is provided on its under side with a cam b.

E is a lever pivotally secured at e to ythe tubcrance or projection E on its upper sidev is in engagement with the cam b when the machine is at rest in its normal position.

F is a vertical rod resting on the inner or free end of the lever E by means of a step F" and reciprocating vertically in the perforated guide or bracket f, secured tothe upright A.

The upperend of this rod is pivotally secured Ato the crank I-I", held normally in a substantially horizontal position by the spring h, said 4crank being integral with the sector H, se-

cured in front of the dial G. This sector engages a pinion g on the shaft or arbor g,` on which is fixed the indicator G.

Thus it will be seen that a-blow struck upon the pad C lifts the piston-rod against the power' of thespring c and rotates the shaftfb, so that the cam b moves forward of the protu berance E on the lever E.y Thus the inner end of this lever is lifted by the spring e," 'and by means 'of the step F lifts the rod F,

rotating the sector H, and hence the indicator G on the dial Gr. It will readily be seen that in this device the registering mechanism is not operated directly by the forcevof the blow.-A This is expended entirely on thespring c, and

the force of the return of the pad is expended on the escaping air in the cylinder. The register is operated bythe spring e,Which is permitted to act by the rotation of the cam E. Hence as the registering mechanism receives no sudden shock it can be delicately and lightly constructed and a greater degree of accuracy obtained. After the hand G has indicated the fore of the blow on the dial it is prevented from iiying back at the same time with the return of the pad under the influence of the spring h by means-of the ratchet g and pawl I', secured to or integral With the bell-crank I and held in position by the spring I. The outer end of this bell-crank I is connected by a rod or link J with the bell-crank K, supported by the bracket J, and the lower arm of the bellcrank K is connected by a link K with the lever L integral with the rock-shaft L, having its bearings in the bracket Z, secured to the frame a. Rigidly secured to this rock- ICO shaft is tliecoin-lever N, weighted at N and with its forward end provided with the coin# receptacle N", situated directly under the chut-e P, leading to the outside. Acoin dropped into the chute falls into the receptacle N, overbalancing the weight N', rocking the shaft L, and by means of the intermediate mechanism releasing the ratchet g and allowing the indicator G to ily back to zero. The coinlever is so balanced as to oscillate slowly, affording abundant time for the indicator to return.

In order to prevent the device from registering a second blow heavier than the first without again dropping a coin in the chtite, I pivot a bell-crank lever R to a bracket r, secured to the upright A in such a manner that the end of its lower arm is close to and over the bent end E of the lever E. A light spring S connects the upper arm of this lever R with the upright A. A nut or projection T is secured to the rod F at such a height that when' t-he rod F is lifted by the rear end of the lever E as the result of a blow on the pad the nut T, rising with the rod F, allows the spring S to pull on the lever R, with the effect that as soon as the pad returns to its normal position andthe cam h forcesthe lever E, by means of the protuberance E', to its normal position the spring S pulls the lower arm of the bell-crank lever R out and over the end E of the lever E, as shown in broken lilies in Fig. 2. Hence after a blow has been struck another blow would fail to cause the end E of the lever E to be lifted by the spring e', as the crank R, resting on such end, would practically lock said spring and prevent its operation. Vhen the mechanism is in its normal position and the indicator at zero, the nut T rests on the upper arm of the bell-crank R, holding the lower arm back and away from the end E', as shown in the drawings. Hence a second blow would not be registered until the indicator had been returned to zero by the coin-operated mechanism.

In this device it will be noticed that the pad or buffer is never locked, such a condition being dangerous, as a person is liable to be injured by striking a locked pad.

Havingthus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a coin-controlled indicating strikingmachine, a striking mechanism comprising the following elements, viz: a striking-pad, a spring by which said striking-pad is held normally in position, a registering mechanism, and a separate spring which is normally restrained by the striking-pad mechanism, but freed by the operation of the said strikingpad mechanism, and thereby allowed to actuate the registering mechanism, substantially as set forth.

2. In a coin-controlled indicating strikingmachine, a striking mechanism comprising a lever fixed on a shaft or arbor and held in its normal position by a spring, a cam on said arbor, a lever supported in the frame and engaged by said cam, a registering mechanism, and mechanism intermediate with said lever and registering mechanism for actuating the latter, whereby the registering mechanism is operated indirectly only by the force of the blow on the pad, substantially as described.

3. In a coin-controlled indicating strikingmachine, the combination of the shaft b, provided with the cam h', the lever B B, and pad C, the spring c, piston-rod, piston, and cylinder D D d, lever E, provided with the protuberance E', spring e', rod F, and registering mechanism, substantially as set forth.

4. In a coin-controlled indicating strikingmachine, the combination, with the lever E E', spring c, and rod F, actuating the registering mechanism and provided with the collar T, of the bell-crank lever R and spring S, combined and arranged as described, whereby a second blow is prevented from actuating the registering mechanism until the same is freed by -the coin-controlled mechanism, substantially as described.

5. In a coin-controlled indicating strikingmachine, the combination of the following parts, viz: the coin-lever N N N", rock-shaft L, lever L ,rod K', bell-crank K, link J, crank I, and pawl I', engaging with the registering mechanism, substantially as set forth.

CHARLES J. MEANS.

XVitnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, J. M. HARTNETT. 

